Enzo Hernandez had a career 80% success rate on stolen bases. / Photo via Out Of The Park Baseball

by The Associated Press, USA TODAY

by The Associated Press, USA TODAY

CARACAS, Venezuela - Former major league baseball player Venezuelan Enzo Hernandez died Sunday in an apparent suicide, Venezuelan media reported. He was 62.

Hernandez, shortstop for the San Diego Padres from 1971 to 1977, was found dead in his home in the town of El Tigre, about 210 miles southeast of Caracas, according to the sports newspaper Sunday Leader.

Quoting a tweet from journalist John Guatache, the newspaper said the former player "in recent months had been treated for depression."

Spokesmen for the municipal police of El Tigre confirmed his death but declined to give details on the cause of his death.

Jose Grasso Vecchio, president of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, tweeted that Hernandez's death was "sad news" and that Hernandez and Dave Concepcion were the "heirs to Luis Aparicio" among Venezuelan shortstops.

Aparicio is the lone Venezuelan inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.

In his eight seasons in the majors, Hernandez, known as a strong defensive player, batted .224 with 522 hits, stealing a career-high 37 bases in 1974. He had a career 80% success rate on stolen bases.